People in this thread are way overly critical right now, to the point where I've held off on responding because I'm worried about biting people's head off. But eff it, I'm gonna give all you honkies a piece of my mind.
1. Who the fuck cares that the river was so cold that she and Theon might have died of hypothermia? Like seriously, unless you have literally all of the information about their core temperature, the temperature of the river, the air temperature, the wind speed, etc. you cannot possibly know that. Just stop. It's not just stupid, but your opinion on whether or not the laws of thermodynamics plus their inherent physical makeup might have resulted in their death before Brienne gets a fire going is
completely irrelevant.
2. While we're on that scene, Theon did not stab the guy through the shield.
Note the height of the shield:
Note the height of the stab:
3. When you get stabbed in the back, especially by someone who is supposed to be very skilled at martial arts, that should be instantly debilitating and/or paralyzing. Ridiculous complaint.
4. When you're in combat, people make all kinds of mistakes. It is not quick, easy, or simple to equip your shield AND draw your sword when taken by surprise on horseback. If you only have time to do one what would you do? And in the middle of combat would you take the risk of trying to buy yourself enough time to then equip your shield?
5. Turn the boat around... maybe that would've been smart, maybe it would've gotten him killed. Maybe he was just more concerned about Myrcella than trying to get immediate retribution (with one hand)... maybe he didn't even have the authority to turn the DORNISH boat around.
6. Sandsnakes could've been planning crap for a LONG time. You have no idea how long that plan was coming, and maybe they have the support of everyone. Maybe they have the support of half the people. Or two-thirds. Maybe crap is about to hit the fan. But there is no gripe on it "making sense" it just deviates from the book in the sense that the book has Doran playing a long game at revenge and more loyalty, whereas in the show I guess they're saying he's actually just a puss.
I miss any?